Steven stirred, apprehension edging into his normal scholarly expression. "I'm with you, Thomas. But separating from this group is inadvisable. The probability of success is higher if we stay together."
"Then we should just bow down to 'Commander Shepherd' and these racists?"
"Bowing is unnecessary. But I would strongly recommend cooperation."
"Don't do us any favors," said Jake. He pointed to a denser growth of vegetation to the south. "Looks like jungle down there. Maybe your lazy black ass can find employment in a plantation or working with gorillas or something."
"Stow that shit!" Jamie snapped. "I don't care what's in your mind, Culler, but you keep your racist bullshit to yourself. And that's an order, Sergeant Culler."
Jake straightened up, taking a slow, deep breath. "Yes, ma'am."
"You were in the Marines, for God's sake. You've never worked with Afro-American men before?"
"Sure I did. But those were men. Not dumb-ass shysters like this Idi Amin clone."
"That dumb ass came a hair's breadth away from ruling this country," Jamie snapped. "Shyster, maybe – dumb, no."
Jake opened his mouth, but then shut it. Horner took him by the arm and led him away as if to reinforce that decision.
"Okay," said Jamie. "Let's keep moving."
THEY ENCOUNTERED a sign a short while later. Eden, Population 1237 Souls. Three Miles.
"Eden, huh," said Tildie. "Someone's taking this seriously."
They were soon entering the town. Another sign greeted them: EDEN: WELCOME FAITHFUL! SHOP. VISIT. STAY AN ETERNITY. It made Jamie think of a tourist town – maybe one of those quaint small cities in Montana or Wyoming or Wisconsin. Or maybe some old Wild West town. A row of partly constructed buildings had sprung up along the main drag into town. Construction was going on everywhere. A symphony of circular saws and pounding hammers shook the air. Every face Jamie saw – most of them sweating – wore either a smile or a look of determination. A few paused in their labors to watch them walk in. Everyone appeared young – no more than their early forties.
The first building they encountered was Eden Visitor Center. Orientation, Career Guidance, Counseling Available.
"I'm going in there," said Jamie. "Why don't the rest of you walk through the main street, maybe separate so we don't seem so obvious. Observe or make polite conversation, if you want. Just don't say who we are and why we're here. Meet back here in about two hours."
The others wandered off. After taking a moment to steady herself, Jamie entered the visitor center. An attractive young woman sat behind the front desk sipping coffee. She offered Jamie a warm smile.
"New in town?" she asked.
"How did you know?"
"The newbies all have that lost puppy look." She laughed, and reached across to scoop a newspaper off a chair. "Sit. Tell me about yourself. I'm Jeannie, by the way."
"Jamie." She shook her out-thrust hand and settled into the chair, wondering what she'd gotten herself into. "What do you want to know?"
"What did you do before you chose to come here?"
"I was a high school science teacher."
"Oh, that's great! We have a real need for teachers – kindergarten on up."
"You have kids here?"
"Of course!"
"It's just...I didn't see any as I walked in here."
"No. They're still in school." Jeannie nodded to the clock on the wall. "Until four. In about fifteen minutes they'll be running wild in the streets."
"How would a child make this kind of decision?" Jamie throttled down her outrage that they'd take children away from their homes.
"They were given a choice, Jamie." The young woman was smiling at her in an understanding way. "Not all of them did. But most wanted to stay with their parents. You have to understand that this was a one of a kind of opportunity – an opportunity that existed at this point in human history and no other – the ability to choose eternity while still alive. It's the End Times on Earth, Jamie. If the children chose to stay, they would face that."
"Face what? Is the world going to explode or something?"
For the first time, Jeannie regarded her with puzzled eyes that held a tiny glint of suspicion. "You didn't take the crossing over preparation course, did you?"
"No." Jamie decided it might be better if she didn't confess too much ignorance. "It was kind of an impulse decision."
The young greeter nodded slowly. "It happens. Sometimes people just went with their gut. And it's a good thing you did."
"So about the Earth...?"
"It's doomed," Jeannie said with a sad shrug.
"From what?"
"He has a plan, and it's not always for us to know." Jeannie laid her hands out on the table. "Look, Jamie, I can see you're one of the curious ones. You're not alone. Many have questions. But I'm not the one you want to talk to about philosophical or theological matters. Our counselor, Rickie, could help you there. I'm just a greeter."
Jamie frowned and Jeannie peered at her in an inquisitive but kind way.
"You're young, aren't you?" she asked. "I mean, this is your age on Earth before crossing over?"
"Yes..." The wheels in Jamie's head clogged along. "Aren't you...?"
"Oh, heavens no, my dear. I was an eighty-seven year old granny in assisted living." She released a rueful little laugh. "So you see, it wasn't a difficult choice at all for me. Not that I didn't have my doubts, but I didn't have much to lose when my children begged me to accept the Father's bounty and join them. Anyway, when you cross over, you get the age you want. I didn't consciously choose it. This is just the way I've always thought of myself, despite what the mirror said. This was all in Preparations Course, by the way. Brian Loving told us what to expect, but it's one thing to imagine, another for it to be real. His mercy is truly a miracle."
"Is he...the creator of all this...around somewhere?"
"You mean, does He sit on a throne somewhere? Live in a big house outside town? Give guest sermons at the church?" Jeannie's bell-like laugh rang out at Jamie's apparent naiveté.
"Well, this is heaven, after all."
"Heaven is a journey, my dear. It may begin here, but we have a ways to go to commune with our creator."
"So he's not around then?"
"Not physically. Though He does come to some of us in our dreams, I've been told. And at the church, some say they have spoken with Him."
Frustratingly vague, Jamie thought. But she could see this was the most she could hope for from this young-old woman.
"You look tired," said Jeannie. "When did you arrive?"
"A few hours ago."
"You must be hungry. And could use somewhere to rest." She reached into her desk and removed a booklet, which Jamie accepted. "We all understand, of course, that you have no money or livelihood. We encourage you to find employment or create your own as soon as possible. In the meantime, these coupons should help."
Jamie opened the booklet. It appeared to filled with coupons offering free or discounted food, services, and lodging.
"You have money here?"
"Why, yes. Issued by the Eden Bank. Gerry Buckner, a former banker and economist, is running it. Eden Dollars. He provides loans and even an exchange for foreign currency – money from other places."
It was all too much. Jamie was struggling to keep her mission and living in this strange new world separate. What if she and her team were stuck here? Impossible to accept, but she saw no guarantee that they could escape this place.
"What happens if you don't buy food – if you don't eat or drink?" she asked. "You can't die here, right?"
"No, dear. But you can make yourself quite miserable. One of our members even attempted to end her life when she became convinced she would never see her children again. Didn't work, of course. She hung there for nearly twenty-four hours in great discomfort until a neighbor found her and helped her down. Poor dear wasn't in a good place after that."
"She wasn't injured?"
"N
o, not permanently. You can get hurt and most assuredly feel pain here, but it doesn't last." She smiled as Jamie felt her nose. The pain and swelling had stopped, and it seemed to have its normal shape. "Did you hurt your nose?"
"Yes. I, um, fell on the way here."
"Well, it looks perfectly fine now."
"What happened to the woman who tried to hang herself? Did she stop wanting to commit suicide?"
"I don't know." Jeannie flipped one hand, a frown tweaking one corner of her mouth. "I hear she's living out in the woods. Or maybe she went traveling. Some do."
The more Jamie listened to her the older she sounded. Jamie wondered how much time would need to pass, however you measured that here, before her elderliness faded away – or if that would ever happen. It made her think about what Steven Jackson said about parts of yourself dying every day.
"It seems strange," she said, "how much this is like Earth."
"As Brian Loving said, it wouldn't make sense to toss us into a whole new plane of existence. We need time to adjust. God understands that, even if many of us didn't."
Jamie frowned, theological issues swirling in her head.
"You should come back tomorrow," said Jeannie. "Millie's doing an orientation session tomorrow morning. You could get a much better idea of how things work here and if it's a place you'd like to call home."
"Maybe I will." Jamie stood up. "Thank you, Jeannie."
"You're welcome. I hope you decide to stay. I think you'd be happy here."
Jamie walked out of the Visitor Center feeling wobbly, as if she'd been at sea for a long time and didn't have her "land legs." Or the other way around. The matter-of-fact way Jeannie talked about starting a new life here, a life without death, about someone trying to hang herself and then just hanging there suffering for a whole day – talk about being at the end of your rope! – all did a number on her head.
It's not real, she told herself. It's an alien illusion, nothing more than advanced technology. Steven was right about that. He had to be right.
Jamie drifted down the sidewalk leading into town, not seeing any of her team. The men and women working or strolling around appeared good-looking and robust – to a strange degree, as if the town was filled with actors and models auditioning for a role in The Town of Beautiful People. Maybe good looks came with the place?
A shingle above her read: Millie's Pastries: A Heavenly Treat. The same "Millie" who would be doing an orientation session tomorrow? Other shingles and signs continued the same theme: Jake and Son's Construction – You Don't Have to Wait An Eternity For Your New Building, Frederick's Fix-It Shop – All Repairs Guaranteed Forever, Marie's Soul Kitchen, Saintly Spirits Tavern. At least these people had a sense of humor. She hoped.
A guy fell into step beside her. Tall, muscular, bronzed, handsome – early thirties. Thick dark hair swept back from his forehead, except one errant lock. Devil-may-care grin. T-shirt and jeans and a tool belt slung around his waist. Could've been carrying paint cans and swaggering to Saturday Night Fever. The sort of guy she used to dream about in high school.
"You're new here, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Can I show you around?"
"Uh..." Her natural instinct to dismiss any guy coming onto vied with her need for intelligence-gathering. "I guess so."
"I'm Rick." He held out a muscular hand. "Rick Lambert."
"Jamie Shepherd."
"Sounds like a great name for here."
She gave him a skimpy smile.
"Where are you from? Back on Earth."
"North Dakota. Grand Forks."
"Colfax, Illinois. We were nearly neighbors."
"Just separated by a few corn fields." Her smile drifted away as she reminded herself what she was here for. "Have you had any other newcomers enter your town in the last few days?"
"Sure. A dozen or so." He glanced at her. "Why? Someone you know cross over then?"
"A dark-haired woman. Pretty. Mid-twenties."
Rick thought that over before nodding. "I think so. I was up laying roof a couple of days ago when a girl matching that description walked through on Main Street. As far as I know, she just kept walking. Some do. I haven't seen her since." He peered at her. "Friend? Sister?"
"Friend."
"I have a couple of friends who crossed over before me, too. But they aren't in Eden. There are towns springing up in all directions, supposedly, but few of us have had time to go searching for them." He frowned. "So what did you do before coming here?"
"High school teacher."
"Farmer. Also ran my dad's John Deere business." He shrugged his bronzed shoulders. "But what difference does any of that make now? It's the past. This is a whole new world, a whole new life. Born in the fall of my thirty-seventh year. Like the John Denver song, just ten years later."
"I wondered, since people can be any age here."
"How old are you? I know it's normally impolite to ask a lady, but considering..."
"Twenty-nine. But didn’t you just say the past doesn't matter?"
"Heh. Still, making time with someone's granny..." He shuddered with mock terror.
"Don't worry, we won't be 'making time.'" She shot him a suspicious smile. "Isn't that kind of old-fashioned for someone in their thirties?"
"What can I say? My family's stuck back in the fifties." He glanced at her. "What makes you so sure we'll never make time?"
"I'm with someone else."
"Oh. Here?"
"No."
"Well then..." He grinned at her. "Forever is a long time to say never."
"Too bad there isn't a Hallmark card to put that on."
"You never know. Greeting cards might be the next big thing here."
They arrived at the edge of the main drag. The sidewalk petered out into a gravel path.
"My house is just a ways to the right," he said.
"I thought you were going to show me around."
"I will. But I thought you might like something to eat and drink first. The afterlife is great, but it can work up a thirst."
"I've noticed."
Jamie followed him up a winding path to the top of a hill. She wondered if she ought to be more cautious. She wasn't superwoman anymore. But the guy seemed nice, and really, a rapist in Eden, Heaven?
They paused at the top of the hill. Below, the tops of the buildings and a church tower poked above the trees, and beyond the town a blue lake shivered in the late-afternoon breeze. It was picturesque and luminescent like a Terry Redlin painting.
"Nice view, huh?"
"Yes. They did a good job with the props."
"They? Props?"
Jamie glanced at his puzzled handsome face. She would've loved to tell him what she knew, but now wasn't the time, and he probably wasn't the person.
"Doesn't it seem a bit too perfect to you?" she asked.
"Not really. I've seen plenty of beautiful places on Earth. The only perfection I've seen lately is standing right beside me."
Jamie snorted out a laugh.
"Did you look like this back on Earth?" he asked.
"I haven't checked a mirror, but yes, as far as I know. No one's said anything about me looking different."
"You came over with some others?"
Jamie nodded. She didn't want to get into that.
"What about you?" she asked. "Is this how you looked?"
A thin note of guilt dinged in Rick's soft laugh. "You got me. I was just an average guy, carrying a bit too much weight, even losing a little hair." He patted the dark mop on his head. "Guess I always wanted to look like a young John Travolta."
"I think you pretty much nailed it." She laughed with him. "Come to think of it, I noticed how weirdly good-looking people in town seemed to be. I felt like a Plain Jane walking through."
"Heh. In a place where everyone looks like their favorite movie star or their glamorous Aunt Josephina, the normal pretty girl next door stands out as the true queen."
Jamie looked away, rubbing
the small blush on her face. For an ex-farmer and John Deere manager, the guy had a way with words.
"Just a little further," he said.
She followed him up a grassy knoll where a small house – more of a cabin, really – materialized in a patch of oak trees. Inside, it was rustic: unfinished floorboard, steel sink, a little living room with a sofa next to a single bed. A simple wood table and a pair of chairs. No sign of a stove or fridge or other trappings of modern life.
"Just getting started," he said. "Don't even have running water or electricity yet, but it's coming. I do my cooking on a gas grill."
"One thing I don't understand. People are building stuff, but where did they get the tools and the supplies?"
"They were waiting here in huge piles of lumber and boxes of brand new tools. Some trucks, pickups, tractors, skid steers. We just helped ourselves as we came in, first come, first served. Some were luckier than others, but that's life. Or in this case, the afterlife."
"How long have you been here?"
"About two months."
"I don't mean to be offensive, but I'm guessing you probably had a nice house and a decent income..."
"So why did I come here?" He smiled at her, but she glimpsed shadows in his eyes as he turned away to gaze out the window. "I'd just gotten divorced, no kids. Made decent money following in my dad's footsteps, but it was never really what I wanted. It might sound strange, but I like art - sculpting stuff and painting. Never felt more alive than when I was doing that, but there was never enough time. Also, the superpower thing...the whole country's going to hell under a tyrannical government and people gone crazy with these new powers. Maybe if I'd been an 'apex' or had some interesting power, I might've felt differently if wasn't just an Average SuperJoe – only a little stronger, with a bit of telekinetic ability. So when my dad decided to cross over, I went with them to see what our local Last Days agent was offering – not really believing anything would happen. But then this gateway or whatever you call it popped up inside the old Episcopal church's basement, and I said what the heck and stepped through. Following in my dad's footsteps again."
"Funny," said Jamie, half-smiling.
"What about you?"
"I was a biology-math teacher at Grand Forks High before the super nanovirus."
Super World Page 44
